London Underground: 150 fascinating Tube facts - Telegraph Telegraph 150 London Underground facts (including the birth of Jerry Springer in East Finchley station) It's closed today, but it's still interesting Credit: John Stillwell Jolyon Attwooll , Travel writer 9 January 2017 • 11:00am You can't ride it today, thanks to industrial action. But you can learn a few things about the Tube instead. 1. There is only one Tube station which does not have any letters of the word 'mackerel' in it: St John's Wood. 2. The average speed on the Underground is 20.5 miles per hour including station stops. 3. The busiest Tube station is Waterloo, which was used by around 95 million passengers in 2015. In 2014 Oxford Circus took top spot, in 2009 it was Victoria, and in 2005 it was King's Cross, 4. On the Metropolitan line, trains can reach over 60mph.

The Night Tube service started on August 19, 2016 Credit: AFP or licensors/DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS 5. The shortest distance between two adjacent stations on the underground network is only 260 metres. The tube journey between Leicester Square and Covent Garden on the Piccadilly Line takes only about 20 seconds, but costs £4.90 (cash fare). Yet it still remains one of the most popular journeys with tourists. 6. Many tube stations were used as air-raid shelters during the Second World War, but the Central Line was even converted into a fighter aircraft factory that stretched for over two miles, with its own railway system. Its existence remained an official secret until the 1980s. 7. Angel has the Underground's longest escalator at 60m/197ft, with a vertical rise of 27.5m. 8. The shortest escalator is Stratford, with a vertical rise of 4.1m. 9. Only 45 per cent of the Underground is actually in tunnels. 10.

The longest distance between stations is on the Metropolitan line from Chesham to Chalfont & Latimer: a total of only 3.89 miles. The history of the Tube in pictures 11. The longest continuous tunnel is on the Northern line and runs from East Finchley to Morden (via Bank), a total of 17.3 miles. 12. Aldgate Station, on the Circle and Metropolitan Lines, is built on a massive plague pit, where more than 1,000 bodies are buried. 13. The longest journey without change is on the Central line from West Ruislip to Epping, and is a total of 34.1 miles. 14. The deepest station is Hampstead on the Northern line, which runs down to 58.5 metres. 15. In Central London the deepest station below street level is also the Northern line. It is the DLR concourse at Bank, which is 41.4 metres below. Only 45 per cent of the Underground is actually in tunnels 16. The TARDIS, (Dr Who’s transport) can be found outside Earl’s Court station. Or at least an old police call box can.

17. The London Underground manages about 10 per cent of all green spaces in London. 18. Wildlife observed on the Tube network includes woodpeckers, deer, sparrowhawk, bats, grass snakes, great crested newts, slow worms. 19. Over 47 million litres water are pumped from the Tube each day, enough to fill a standard leisure centre swimming pool (25 metres x 10 metres) every quarter of an hour. 20. The London Underground trains were originally steam powered. 21. The station with the most platforms is Baker Street with 10 (Moorgate also has 10 platforms but only six are used by Tube trains - others are used by overground trains). 22.The District Line has the most stations: 60. There are 270 stations on the network Credit: Dominic Lipinski 23. The Waterloo and City Line has the fewest stations (no intermediate stations) 24. The Underground name first appeared on stations in 1908. 25. London Underground has been known as the Tube since 1890 due to the shape of the tunnels. 26.

The first deep-level electric railway line also opened in 1890. 27. The Tube's logo is known as “the roundel” (a red circle crossed by a horizontal blue bar) 28. The station with the most escalators is Waterloo with 23. 29. The total number of passengers carried during 2013/14 was 1.265 billion – making it the world's 11th busiest metro. 30. The highest station above sea level is Amersham, at 147 metres. What we love about the London Underground 31. Tube trains travelled 76.4 million kilometres last year. 32. The Northern line has the highest maximum number of trains required for scheduled peak period service: 91. The Tube's logo is known as “the roundel” Credit: Reuters Photographer 33. The Waterloo & City line has the fewest scheduled for peak period service at just five. 34. The total length of the London Underground network is 250 miles. 35. In 1926, suicide pits were installed beneath tracks due to a rise in the numbers of passengers throwing themselves in front of trains.

36. The eastern extension of the Jubilee line is the only Underground line to feature glass screens to deter "jumpers". 37. The earliest trains run from Osterley to Heathrow on the Piccadilly line, starting at 4.45am. 38. The greatest elevation above the ground level is on the Northern line at Dollis Brook viaduct over Dollis road, Mill Hill: it rises a total of 18 metres (60ft). 39. One of the early names proposed for the Victoria Line was the Viking line. 40. In 1924, the first baby was born on the Underground, on a train at Elephant & Castle on the Bakerloo line. The Tube's prettiest stations 41. The American talk show host Jerry Springer was born at East Finchley during the Second World War: his mother had taken shelter in the station from an air raid. 42. Builders working on the Bakerloo Line are reported to have suffered from the bends while tunnelling under the Thames. 43. The inaugural journey of the first Central line train in 1900 had the Prince of Wales and Mark Twain on board.

The total length of the London Underground network is 250 miles Credit: PA 44. The tunnels beneath the City curve significantly because they follow its medieval street plan. 45. The Central line introduced the first flat fare when it opened at the turn of the 20th century. The tuppence fare lasted until the end of June 1907 when a threepenny fare was introduced for longer journeys. 46. Charles Pearson, MP and Solicitor to the City of London, is credited with successfully campaigning for the introduction of the Underground. He died in 1862 shortly before the first train ran. 47. The first escalator on the Underground was installed at Earl's Court in 1911. 48. The first crash on the Tube occurred in 1938 when two trains collided between Waterloo and Charing Cross, injuring 12 passengers. 49. Harry Beck produced the well known Tube map diagram while working as an engineering draughtsman at the London Underground Signals Office. He was reportedly paid 10 guineas (£10.50) for his efforts. 50.

Harry Beck’s map was considered too big a departure from the norm, but the public liked it and it became official in 1933. 51. Busking has been licensed on the Tube since 2003. 52. Sting and Paul McCartney are both rumoured to have busked on the Underground in disguise. 53. The phrase "Mind the gap" dates back to 1968. The recording that is broadcast on stations was first done by Peter Lodge, who had a recording company in Bayswater. A photo posted by bologna|2001|galvani (@_f_r_e_0_1_) on Aug 18, 2016 at 4:53am PDT 54. The Peter Lodge recording of “Mind the Gap” is still in use, but some lines use recordings by a Manchester voice artist Emma Clarke. On the Piccadilly line the recording is notable for being the voice of Tim Bentinck, who plays David Archer in The Archers. 55.

The Jubilee Line was the only Underground Line to connect with all the others until the East London line ceased to be part of the Underground in 2007 (now the Central Line does too). 56. Approximately 50 passengers a year kill themselves on the Underground. 57. Fewer than 10 per cent of Tube stations lie south of the Thames. 58. The total number of lifts on the Underground, including four stair lifts, is 167. Ye Olde London Underground Credit: Getty 59. Smoking was banned on the Underground as a result of the King's Cross fire in November 1987 which killed 31 people. A discarded match was thought to be the cause of that inferno. 60. An estimated half a million mice live in the Underground system. London's lost Tube stations: in pictures 61. 1961 marked the end of steam and electric haulage of passenger trains on the London Underground. 62. One of the levels in Tomb Raider 3 is set in the disused Aldwych tube station, featuring scenes of Lara Croft killing rats. 63.

In the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the Hogwarts headmaster has a scar that resembles a map of the London Underground on his knee. 64.There are only two tube station names that contain all five vowels: Mansion House, and South Ealing. 65. Edward Johnston designed the font for the London Underground in 1916. The font he came up with is still in use today. 66. Amersham is also the most westerly tube station, as well as the highest (see above). 67. A macabre statistic is that the most popular tube suicide time is around 11am. 68. In January 2005, in an attempt to alleviate a problem with loitering young people, the London Underground announced it would play classical music at problem stations. Which buildings survived the Great Fire of London? 69. The Underground has the oldest section of underground railway in the world, which opened in 1863. 70. The first section of the Underground ran between Paddington (Bishop's Road) and Farringdon Street. The same section now forms part of the Circle, Hammersmith & City, and Metropolitan lines.

London Underground: 10 of the funniest videos 71.The Underground was first used for air raid shelters in September 1940. 72. During the Second World War, part of the Piccadilly line (Holborn - Aldwych branch), was closed and British Museum treasures were stored in the empty spaces. 73. The London Passenger Transport Board was nationalised and became the London Transport Executive in 1948. 74. The first Tube tunnel was opened in 1880, running from the Tower of London to Bermondsey. 75. The Central Line used to be nicknamed as the 'Twopenny Tube' for its flat fare. 76. Dot matrix train destination indicators were introduced onto London Underground platforms in 1983. 77. The single worst accident in terms of fatalities on the Underground occurred on February 28, 1975 at Moorgate, when 42 people died. 78. The Piccadilly line extended to serve Heathrow Terminal 4 in 1986. 79. Penalty fares were only introduced in 1994. 80.

The Tube carried one billion passengers in a year for the first time in 2007. London Underground quiz 81.The last manually operated doors on Tube trains (replaced by air-operated doors) were phased out in 1929. 82.The Jubilee Line was named to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 – but the line did not open until 1979. A photo posted by Merve (@lknmerve) on Aug 1, 2016 at 12:25pm PDT 83. A census carried out on September 27, 1940, found that 177,500 Londoners were sleeping in Tube stations. 84. During the war, special supply trains ran, providing seven tonnes of food and 2,400 gallons of tea and cocoa every night to people staying in the Tube. 85. Covent Garden is believed to be haunted by the ghost of William Terris who met an untimely death near the station in 1897. 86. Another station that is believed to be haunted is Farringdon.

The so-called Screaming Spectre is believed to have been a milliner. 87. The Seven Sisters Underground station is believed to have been named after a line of elm trees which stood nearby until the 1830s. 88. The fictitious station of Walford East, which features in the long-running soap opera Eastenders, is supposed to be on the District Line. 89. Every week, Underground escalators travel the equivalent distance of going twice around the world. 90. According to TFL, London Underground trains travel a total of 1,735 times around the world (or 90 trips to the moon and back) each year. 91. A spiral escalator was installed in 1907 at Holloway Road station, but linear escalators were favoured for the rest of the network. A small section of the spiral escalator is in the Acton depot. 92. A small section of the old London Wall survives in the trackside walls of Tower Hill station at platform level. One of the largest pieces of the wall also stands just outside this station. 93.

Finsbury Park station has murals that show a pair of duelling pistols, harking back to a time when men would visit the park after hours to defend their honour. The Jubilee line receives the most complaints Credit: © Pixel Youth movement / Alamy Stock Photo/Pixel Youth movement / Alamy Stock Photo 94. In 2012, the most complained about line was the Jubilee. 95. The London Underground is thought to be the third largest metro system in the world, in terms of miles, after the Beijing Subway and the Shanghai Metro. 96. The London Underground is the third busiest metro system in Europe, after Moscow and Paris. 97. The coffin of Dr. Thomas Barnardo was carried in funeral cortege on an underground train in 1905, one of only two occasions this is known to have happened. 98. The Underground helped over 200,000 children escape to the countryside during the Second World War. 99. During the war, some stations (now mostly disused) were converted into government offices: a station called Down Street was used for meetings of the Railway Executive Committee, as well as for the War Cabinet before the Cabinet War Rooms were built.

100. Brompton Road (now disused) on the Piccadilly, Line was apparently used as a control room for anti-aircraft guns. 101. Only five London Underground stations lie outside the M25 motorway The Night Tube is finally here Credit: AFP or licensors/DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS 102. The Underground runs 24 hours a day at New Year, during special events (such as for the opening and closing ceremonies of the London Olympics), and on selected lines at the weekend. 103. According to a 2002 study air quality on the Underground was 73 times worse than at street level, with 20 minutes on the Northern Line having "the same effect as smoking a cigarette". 104. The former poet laureate John Betjeman created 'Metroland' series, a homage to the people and places served by the Metropolitan line in 1973. Ride the Emirates Air Line cable car with this 360° video 105. The Oyster card was introduced in 2003. 106.

The worst civilian death toll on the Underground occurred at Bethnal Green Tube tragedy in 1943, when 173 people died. It is the largest loss of life in a single incident on the London Underground network. 107. The largest number of people killed by a single wartime bomb was 68 at Balham Station. 108. The 100th anniversary of the roundel (the Tube Logo) was celebrated in 2008 by TfL commissioning 100 artists to produce works that celebrate the design. 109. The largest Tube car park is at Epping and has 599 parking spots. 110. The Central Line has the most tube stations with no surface building (Bank, Bethnal Green, Chancery Lane, Gants Hill, Notting Hill Gate) 111. Of the stations that have stairs, Hampstead Station has the most steps (320 in total). 112. There are 14 journeys between stations that take less than a minute on average. 113. King's Cross St Pancras tube station is served by more Underground lines than any other station on the network. 114.

Seven London Boroughs are not served by the underground system, six of them being situated south of the River Thames. 115. The total number of carriages in London Underground's fleet, as of January 2013, was 4,134. 116. The total number of stations served on the network is 270. 117. London Underground transferred from the control of the Government to Transport for London (TfL) on July 15, 2003. 118. Scenes from the film Sliding Doors were shot at Waterloo station on the Waterloo & City Line and at Fulham Broadway tube station on the District Line. 119. Filming on location in the Underground costs £500 per hour (plus VAT) unless you have a crew of less than five. 120. You can now no longer go around the Circle Line in a full circle. From 2009, the Circle Line terminated at Edgware Road. 121. Greenford on the Central Line was the last Tube station to use wooden escalators. They were replaced in 2014. 122.

Arsenal (originally Gillespie Road) on Piccadilly line is the only station named after a football team. 123. There are three tube stations on the Monopoly board: Liverpool Street Station, King’s Cross and Marylebone. Watch | How to land at Britain's trickiest airport 03:57 124. The number of stations that only use escalators is 12 125. Nineteen stations just use lifts. 126. The River Westbourne was funnelled above a platform on Sloane Square in a large iron pipe suspended from girders. It remains in place today. 127. The first tube station to be demolished was Westbourne Park on the Metropolitan Line. It was re-sited in 1871. 128. There is a mosquito named after the Tube – the London Underground mosquito, which was found in the London Underground. It was notable for its assault of Londoners sleeping in the Underground during the Blitz. 129.The London Underground Film Office handles over 200 requests a month. 130.

In Alfred Hitchcock’s first feature film The Lodger (1926) featured the director making a cameo on the Tube. 131. The record for visiting all the stations on the London Underground network – known as the Tube Challenge – is currently held by Ronan McDonald and Clive Burgess of the United Kingdom, who completed the challenge in 16 hours, 14 minutes and 10 seconds on February 19, 2015 132. The Tube Challenge record did not appear in the Guinness book of records until its eighth edition in 1960, when it stood at 18 hours, 35 minutes. 133. An interactive novel has been published, set on the London Underground. You can read it here . 134. In cockney rhyming slang, the London Underground is known as the Oxo (Cube/Tube). 135. Around 30,000 passengers went on The Metropolitan Line on its first day of public business – January 10, 1863. 136.

There were claims the first baby born on the Underground was called Thelma Ursula Beatrice Eleanor (so that her initials would have read TUBE) but this story later proved false – her actual name was Marie Cordery. London brunch 137. On August 3 2012, during the Olympic Games, the London Underground had its most hectic day ever, carrying 4.4 million passengers – but that record was beaten on Friday December 4 2015, when 4.82 million people used it. 138. St James is the only Underground Station to have Grade-I protected status. It includes 55 Broadway, the administrative headquarters of London’s Underground since the 1930s. 139. The most recent Tube birth – a boy – was in 2009. 140. The most common location for filming is Aldwych, a disused station. 141. As Princess Elizabeth, the Queen travelled on the Underground for the first time in May 1939, when she was 13 years old, with her governess Marion Crawford and Princess Margaret.

Apr 30, 2016 at 3:30pm PDT 142. Poems on the Underground was launched in 1986, the idea of American writer Judith Chernaik. 143. A series of animal shapes have also been highlighted in the London Underground map, first discovered by Paul Middlewick in 1988. They're created using the tube lines, stations and junctions of the London Underground map. 144. A fragrance known as Madeleine was trialled at St. James Park, Euston, and Piccadilly stations in 2001, intended to make the Tube more pleasant. It was stopped within days after complaints from people saying they felt ill. 145. There were eight deep-level shelters built under the London Underground in the Second World War. One of them in Stockwell is decorated as a war memorial. 146. After the war, the deep level shelter at Clapham South housed immigrants from the West Indies. 147. A 2011 study suggested 30 per cent of passengers take longer routes due to the out-of-scale distances on the Tube map. 148.

The first ever air-conditioned, walk-through Underground train ran on the Metropolitan line in 2010. 149. The average distance travelled by each Tube train annually stands at around 114,500 miles. 150. Alcohol was banned on the Tube – and all London Transport – from June 2008. Editor's note: Note that one or two facts have changed since this article was first published in 2014 and this has been updated to reflect those changes. The Best Hotels In London LU Capital Programmes Director Why escalator and lift work takes time Did you know that the escalators in shopping centres, supermarkets and department stores are different from the escalators you use on the Tube network? They are generally used by customers during opening hours only. Because of this, they are built to cope with lower passenger loadings compared to a public transport escalator. Escalators and lifts on the Tube network are used by far more customers - 1.265 billion a year. They tend to be in operation in both directions for a period of up to 20 hours a day, 7 days a week, 364 days a year.

The machinery required to operate these escalators and lifts is therefore classed as heavy engineering machinery. It allows for reliable regular use by customers Escalator and lift replacement and refurbishment can be a lengthy process. This is due to the size and difficulty of the task: Escalators are heavy-duty machines, custom built for each station Parts have to be manufactured from scratch and installed deep underground in confined spaces The escalator parts can only be delivered in the short Engineering hours slot, because of their size. If they were to be delivered during operating hours, they would end up being in the way of customers and compromising off-loading restrictions on the size of these deliveries via road in London Old escalators have often supported other structures which need to be carefully managed during replacement and refurbishment works A typical heavy-duty escalator weighs 40 tonnes and has a vertical rise of 15 metres.

If laid flat, it would be over 37 metres long Typically, there are six to seven (maximum 20) people working on an escalator on each shift, two shifts per day, six or seven days per week For a typical 15-metre rise escalator, there are approximately 15,000 moving parts In some stations, the escalators were installed before the Second World War and actually form part of the station structure. This was the case at Embankment, where considerable structural modernisation was required to create enough space to fit a new escalator. New, custom-built machines ensure a reliable escalator service for many decades to come All Tube escalators have full communication, fire detection and suppression systems which are required to be tested and declared operational before they can be used by the public Lift replacement work often takes place deep underground, in cramped lift shafts Due to the nature of the work it can take a number of months to complete. We're always looking at ways to reduce disruption to customers while we undertake lift and escalator refurbishment and replacement. For example, we will sometimes replace more than one lift at a time to reduce the overall time they are unavailable.

Tube facts Our lifts and escalators run 20 hours, and sometimes 24 hours, a day in support of work at stations in traffic hours There are 423 escalators and 196 lifts across the Tube network Our busiest lifts at stations such as Covent Garden will carry up to 80,000 people a day through the station Over its 40-year lifespan, an escalator will travel the equivalent distance of a trip to the moon and back Our lifts can hold up to 50 people and travel up to four metres per second Our escalators travel up to 0.75 metres per second, faster than the 0.5 metres per second in escalators used in shops and department stores Landing lengths on our escalators are longer than those in department stores to allow for the high speed at which our escalators operate Waterloo has the most escalators of any station with 23 The longest escalator - 60 metres - is at Angel. The shortest is at Stratford - just 4.1 metres The deepest lift shaft is at Hampstead - 55.2 metres. The shortest is at King's Cross St. Pancras - 2.3 metres.

See exclusive behind the scenes updates on all our Tube improvements on Twitter #TubeImprovements and our TfL and Tube Facebook pages. BBC NEWS | UK | England | London | Tube ski stunt blasted by police Tube ski stunt blasted by police A man who skied nearly 200ft down the longest escalator on the London Underground has been condemned by police and transport officials. He launched himself down the 196ft (60m) escalator at Angel Tube station and filmed the stunt. The unidentified man then posted it on the YouTube video sharing website where it has received more than 100,000 hits. Transport for London (TfL) urged police to take the "strongest possible action" against any similar offenders. 'Reckless' stunt A TfL spokesman said: "This is a dangerous, stupid and irresponsible act that could have resulted in serious injury or death to not only the individual concerned, but other passengers." A British Transport Police (BTP) spokesman described the skier's antics as "naive and reckless". They urged the man to contact them so they could discuss the potential dangers of his stunt. A BTP spokesman said the video was thought to have been recorded about a year ago.

He said under by-laws they could not prosecute after six months had lapsed. If someone had been injured, they would still have powers to prosecute under criminal law, the spokesman said. The video, filmed from the skier's head-mounted camera, shows him walking, going up the escalator, fitting his skis on and launching himself down at high speed. The escalator was clear at the time but passengers on opposite conveyors can be seen looking on, bemused. The film's producer said other people were not in danger as friends of the stuntman, a Norwegian national, had warned passengers away. Tube Facts & Figures Underground USA Tube Stations that have no surface buildings Central Line - Bank, Bethnal Green, Chancery Lane, Gants Hill, Marble Arch, Notting Hill Gate, St.

Paul's, Tottenham Court Road Bakerloo Line- Charing Cross, Piccadilly Circus, Regent's Park, South Kenton, Warwick Avenue Piccadilly Line - Hyde Park Corner, Knightsbridge, Manor House, Piccadilly Circus, Turnpike Lane, Heathrow 4, Heathrow 5 Metropolitan Line - Barbican Northern Line - Charing Cross, Bank, Old Street Jubilee Line - Dollis Hill, Southwark, Swiss Cottage Victoria Line- Pimlico, Vauxhall, Walthamstow Central District Line - Aldgate East, Mansion House, Westminster There are tube stations which have entrances that are inside part of a National Rail building, so the tube station itself has no surface building, but the National Rail station does. Euston station is like this, as it the Bakerloo part of Paddington and Marylebone. (Waterloo station has the often forgotten about 'Shell Centre' entrance and exit, which is not part of the main National Rail station. Charing Cross is part of a public subway, and not the National Rail station of the same name).

Stations ticket offices are not are surface level, but you have to descend down steps before you can get to the point where you can buy a ticket. Tube Stations that have no exit barriers And thus, therefore you could enter and exit the system without a ticket ... Chalfont & Latimer - Northbound platform, side entrance Chorleywood - Northbound only, there's no barrier Euston Square - Using the lift on southern side (Westbound Platform) of the stations, has no barriers, and is the only place on the Underground within Zone 1 that you can enter/exit the tube without touching in out Finchley Central - On the west side of station, there is a side entrance which has no barriers Finsbury Park - Odd, as it's a big interchange station. But nope, you can walk right in ... (and out) Kensington Olympia - Oyster 'self touch' in only for District and Overground services Mill Hill East - One of the networks least used stations, not surprising really that it's ungated Pinner - On the northbound platform, towards the back of the train there are steps down to ungated exit Roding Valley - Has no barriers on either side of the station, either exit/entrance!

South Kenton - No barrier gates here, just 'we trust you' Oyster touch pads. West Harrow - When travelling westbound only, there are two 'self touch' Oysters, but no barriers Woodside Park - But only when going northbound on the Northern Line Tube Stations that have no escalators and use lifts to get down to the platforms Central Line Holland Park, Lancaster Gate, Queensway Northern Line Borough, Hampstead, Chalk Farm, Belsize Park, Goodge Street, Mornington Crescent, Tufnell Park, Kennington Piccadilly Line Covent Garden, Holloway Road, Russell Square, Caledonian Road Bakerloo Line Regent's Park, Elephant & Castle, Edgware Road, Lambeth North Sidenote: Greenford for a long time used to be the ONLY tube station on the network where you can take an escalator up to platform level, but with recent (2010) rebuilding of Stratford station, there is now a (very short) escalator there to take you up to the Central Line platform level.

Also note that whilst all stations that have lifts have emergency staircases, some that have escalators also have emergency staircases that may be quicker to go down if the escalator is crowded! These stations (amongst those listed below), are Shepherd's Bush, Tottenham Court Road, Old Street and Moorgate Tube Stations with steps All stations with lifts also have 'emergency' staircases to access the platforms too, but there are also some stations with escalators (not lifts) that also have stairs. Here's a complete list of them.

Hampstead - 320 steps (22 flat, 298 spiral) Belsize Park - 189 steps (19 flat, 170 spiral) [The station sign here incorrectly states that there are 219 steps] Covent Garden - 193 steps Russell Square - 171 steps (16 flat, 136 spiral, 19 curved) [The station sign here incorrectly states that there are 175 steps] Goodge Street - 136 steps Elephant & Castle - 117 steps (18 flat, 99 spiral) [The station sign here incorrectly states that there are 124 steps] Tottenham Court Road - 116 steps (17 flat, 99 spiral) [The station sign here incorrectly only refers to the 99 steps on the spiral staircase, but you have to walk the additional 17 flat steps making 116 in total] Queensway - 126 steps (19 flat, 107 spiral) [The station sign here incorrectly states that there are 123 steps] Kentish Town - 117 steps [The station sign here

 incorrectly states that there are 121 steps] Archway - 113 steps Tufnell Park - 116 steps (16 flat, 100 spiral) [The station sign here incorrectly states that there are 110 steps] Highgate - 107 steps Borough - 102 steps Old Street - 109 steps (9 flat, 100 spiral) [The station sign here incorrectly only refers to the 100 steps on the spiral staircase, but you have to walk the additional 9, making 109 in total] Camden Town - 96 steps Holland Park - 93 steps (18 flat, 72 spiral, 3 more flat) [The station sign here also incorrectly states that there are 92 steps] Gloucester Road - 87 steps Lambeth North - 84 steps (17 flat, 67 spiral) Earl's Court - 83 steps Embankment - 54 steps Chalk Farm - 54 steps (19 flat, 34 spiral) At Oval station, the sign says there are 80 steps.

There are on the spiral staircase only, but there are additional steps before and after that which is bring it to a total of 103. Aldwych station (disused) has 131 steps on its spiral staircase - seven lots of 17 on the spiral, plus 12 'flat' at the top - and then there are a further 21 steps from lower lift to platform (both platforms) level. A total of 152 steps between street and platform level. Tube Stations that only have escalators Some people don't like travelling on escalators, and have asked the question "Which tube stations have steps?". "All tube stations have steps!" is NOT the answer. The following stations only have escalator access to the platforms: Angel, Baker Street, Baker Street, Bond Street, Chancery Lane, Bethnal Green, Holborn, Liverpool Street, South Kensington, Stockwell, Tooting Broadway, Tufnell Park, Vauxhall, Victoria. (Admittedly, escalator can sometimes be turned off and not moving and thus become steps, but this cannot be relied upon). Tube Stations with the most escalators Since the re-development of Kings Cross St.

Pancras with the new ticket hall, it now has 20 in total within the LU ticket barrier 'boundary'. There are an additional 2 'tube' escalators that take you from the ticket hall up to St. Pancras station, which would be 22 in total. Waterloo also has 20 escalators (and two travelators!) within the official LU barrier, but if you include the ones but the Northern/Bakerloo ticket area that take you up to the National Rail concourse, that's 3 more - a total of 23. Between 2016-2018 though, the Shell Centre entrance is closing rebuilding, meaning those two escalators are currently out of use. Canary Wharf has 20 escalators inside the immense station that it is. Westminster has an incredible 17 escalators - all of them to get you to and from the Jubilee line. London Bridge also has 17, the majority of these being for the Jubilee Line. Bank has 15 escalators in total - as well as the travelator to/from the Waterloo & City line. Oxford Circus has 14 escalators.

Green Park and Piccadilly Circus both have 11 Embankment, North Greenwich and Canning Town all have 10 escalators Charing Cross has 10 if you include the 5 that were part of the Jubilee Line (but no longer in regular use) The newly refurbished Tottenham Court Road station (opened in December 2015) has two new escalators from ticket hall to street, taking its total to 9 for the whole station Euston, Canada Water, Bond Street and Southwark all have 8 escalators Holborn and Warren Street have 7 Tube Stations that are 'Right Hand Running' Tube trains and track normally 'drive' on the left as with roads in the UK .. trains will run on the left hand side.

But there are a few exceptions on the London Underground where the tracks are switched and they run on the right instead, they are: Baker Street, Bank, Euston, King's Cross, London Bridge, Warren Street, White City Tube Stations with other/alternative names As part of the name on the roundels: Burnt Oak, still signed as 'Burnt Oak (Watling)' Hillingdon, sill signed as 'Hillingdon (Swakeleys)' South Wimbledon, still signed as 'South Wimbledon (Merton)' in some places South Woodford, still signed as 'South Woodford (George Lane)' Tooting Bec, still signed as 'Tooting Bec (Trinity Road)' Turnham Green, says 'Turnham Green - For Bedford Park' on the platform signs Stations that are 'For...' somewhere on the roundel: Warwick Avenue also says 'For Little Venice'.

Ladbroke Grove also says 'For Portobello Road' Charing Cross also says 'For Trafalgar Square' Holborn used to say 'Holborn (Kingsway)', but all these roundels signs have now been replaced (But see Howard Jones music video below) Previous name of the station written into the tiles on the wall: Arsenal, still has the name 'Gillespie Road'. Hampstead, still has the name 'Heath Street' Marylebone, still has the name 'Grand : Central' at the northern end of the platforms. Warren Street, still has the name 'Euston Road' Stations that are less than 60 seconds apart These are all average timings from multiple journeys made going in both directions. On the Piccadilly Line, Leicester Square and Covent Garden are the two closest stations together on the network with an average journey time of just 37 seconds. Southwark to Waterloo on the Jubilee line takes on average 41 seconds. The time between Charing Cross and Embankment (Northern) is 42 seconds.

Mansion House to Cannon Street (District and Circle) : 46 seconds Northfields to South Ealing on the Piccadilly are so close to each other you can see the other each from the the other one looking down the line. Journey time is 47 seconds. The time between Charing Cross and Embankment (Bakerloo) is 48 seconds. Holborn to Chancery Lane on the Central takes 50 seconds. On the Central Line, Oxford Circus to Tottenham Court Road takes just 52 seconds Cannon Street to Monument (District and Circle) : 54 seconds. Marylebone to Edgware Road on the Bakerloo, 55 seconds. Bond Street to Oxford Circus on the Central takes 56 seconds. Warren Street to Euston on the Victoria line takes 57 seconds. Swiss Cottage to Finchley Road on the Jubilee Line is 58 seconds. Shepherds Bush Market to Goldhawk Road on the Hammersmith & City, Circle Lines takes 58 seconds.

Just missing out on the '60 second' mark: It takes just over a minute - 62 seconds to do Wood Lane to Shepherds Bush Market, and 65 seconds to go between Latimer Road and Wood Lane. Also, Fairlop to Hainault on the Central are surprisingly close. On a clear day you can see the the other station when looking straight down the line. Average journey time between is 65 seconds.

Stations that it takes longest to travel between Chesham to Chalfont & Latimer (Metropolitan) takes 7 minutes, 20 seconds Wembley Park to Finchley Road (Metropolitan) takes 6 minutes, 50 seconds Heathrow Terminal 4 to Terminals 123 (Piccadilly - round 'the loop') takes 6 minutes, 20 seconds Hammersmith to Acton Town (Piccadilly) takes 5 minutes, 50 seconds Baker Street to Finchley Road (Metropolitan) takes 5 minutes, 30 seconds Hammersmith to Turnham Green (Piccadilly) takes Heathrow 4 to Heathrow 123 (Piccadilly) takes 4 minutes, 20 seconds Arnos Grove to Southgate (Piccadilly) takes 4 minutes, 5 seconds Waterloo to Kennington (Northern) takes 3 minutes, 50 seconds Rickmansworth to Chorleywood (Metropolitan) takes 3 minutes, 50 seconds Moor Park to Croxley (Metropolitan) takes 3 minutes, 45 seconds Turnpike Lane to Manor House (Piccadilly) takes 3 minutes, 4

5 seconds Chorleywood to Chalfont & Latimer (Metropolitan) takes 3 minutes, 40 seconds Chalfont & Latimer to Amersham (Metropolitan) takes 3 minutes, 30 seconds Waterloo to Bank (Waterloo & City) is 3 minutes, 25 seconds Hampstead to Golders Green (Northern) takes 3 minutes, 15 seconds Osterley to Boston Manor (Piccadilly) takes 3 minutes, 10 seconds Seven Sisters to Finsbury Park (Victoria) is 2 minutes, 55 seconds Kings Cross to Caledonian Road (Piccadilly) is 2 minutes, 50 seconds Elm Park to Dagenham East (District) is 2 minutes, 50 seconds Osterley to Boston Manor (Piccadilly) is 2 minutes, 50 seconds Baker Street to St.

Johns Wood (Jubilee) is 2 minutes, 40 seconds Highbury & Islington to Kings Cross (Victoria) is 2 minutes, 35 seconds Music Videos filmed on the tube Boris Gardener - I want to wake up with you (1986) at Westbourne Park. Howard Jones - New Song (1983) at Holborn Aqua - Turn Back Time at Holborn, the disused Platform 5 to Aldwych Paul McCartney - Press . Baker Street and Piccadilly Circus The Kings - Do it again . Aldwych Scissor Sisters - Mary . Canary Wharf Chemical Brothers - Believe . Maida Vale Soft Cell - Bedsitter . St. Johns Wood Dolly Rockers - Je Suis Une Dolly (2009) on the Northern Line Madonna - Hung up (2005) on the Jubilee Line The Prodigy's 'Fire starter' was famously filmed in one of the lift shafts at Aldwych, but it could be any abandoned place really, and not readily identifiable as a tube station. Tube Facts & Figures What station has the most escalators? What station has the most stairs?

Such things and more a constant source of fascination when it comes to the tube so I thought I'd list some of them. TfL/LU though aren't very good at counting their own number of steps, so one of my favourite sections on this page is how many steps the official sign says there it, and then a note (where I've counted them) of how may steps there actually really are!

Question: Which London tube station has the longest escalator?
Answer: Angel